BOOKS.

SIR CHARLES NAPIER'S ADMINISTRATION 07 scrsinE.* THIS volume is a continuation or completion of the author's work on the Conquest of Scinde ; and is composed, but more avowedly, with the same object—the justification of a brother's fame against the attacks of assailants. It describes the means by which Sir Charles Napier sought to restore order and to give prosperity to Scinde by restraining the violence of the Beloochees, the conquering race, while he encouraged their virtues—by giving freedom to the slave, security to the Seindian cultivator and Hin- doo merchant, and by vigorously repressing crime, especially rob- bery, murder, and the oppression of the poor by those in authority. Extensive public works were planned—roads, bridges, barracks, moles, and the machinery for irrigation; justice untrammelled by forms was administered with a sure and speedy hand; the more active and stirring spirits among the Belooches were enlisted in the cause of order, by being enrolled as police or irregular soldiery; in short, a system of fiscal, civil, judicial, and governmental administration, was set on foot, which combined the patriarchal, the despotic, and the philosophical in one ; the animating spirit being Sir Charles himself, and his administrative agents military officers, to the exclusion, so far as the General could manage it, of " poli- ticals " and " civil servants." The arrangements and their success are described at large by Sir William Napier ; and though the au- thor makes his brother too universally in the right to be consistent with humanity, and somewhat fails in carrying the reader's con- viction entirely with him, from his advocate-like manner, the ac- tivity, energy, determination, and straightforward conduct, right or wrong, of the old soldier, contrasts very favourably with the want of principle, the varying views, and the official or diplomatic slang of many Indian documents to which public attention has been directed of late years. Besides the story of the consolidation of conquest, there are accounts of some detached affairs upon a small scale, the General's campaign against the Hill-men of Cut- chee, and the improvements he effected in the Indian army so far as it was under his control.

Clear conceptions, distinctly and forcibly expressed, are the characteristic of both the soldier brothers : the palm of variety, naturalness, and a kind of quaint or startling effect, must be assigned to Charles. Nature, or more probably a habit of writing books, has given to the historian a mathematical manner, slightly approaching the pedantic ; and his style is occasionally somewhat ponderous with a striving after effect. In warlike description or narrative this is unfelt : the greatness or bold- ness of the actions, the enthusiasm of the writer, and the vivid clearness with which he conveys ideas and images on a subject new to the reader but always interesting, would carry off much greater faults. In dealing with the civil affairs of a country so remote and so little interesting to the generality of English readers as Scinde, these literary peculiarities are more felt. There is a de- gree of doubt or unreality about many of the topics. The large- ness and variety of the plans are indeed made clear enough, as well as the wonderful energy and industry, of Sir Charles Napier, in spite of years, climate, ill health, domestic afflictions, the indif- ference or hostility of power, the thwarting from official slowness, and the enmity of officials—or, as his brother asserts, their greedi- ness, corruption, anger, and fear. But the reader desires some- thing more of proof as to what was really undertaken, how much was really accomplished out of what was planned, and how much of what was done is permanent. No doubt, it may be said that this remark is hypercritical ; that roads, bridges, and similar -works, are mentioned -as finished, others as left unfinished filen want of time or means, others as not yet begun from the silence or refusal of the Indian Government, which is moreover charged with letting some that were finished go to decay. Still we -think the impression of the book will be, that the reader has before him " enterprises of great pith and moment," of which he is by no means sure how much is action, or rather action with enduring results.

This impression may in part arise from the great defect of the book—its ex-parte controversial character. A defence of Sir Charles Napier's administration was indeed the object of the writer ; but it should be directly aimed at, not mixed with history, for it encum- bers the narrative, and is of less use as proof than is the narrative itself. The temper of the controversy, too, is bad. The Major- General no more brooks a difference in politics than he would ais- obedience of orders ; to oppose or to differ from his brother or him- self, constitutes an offence. All persons who doubt the justice or the policy of the war with Scinde, or any of the General's doings there, are corruptly or criminally wrong. The Directory, the Pi e- sident of the Board of Control, the Calcutta Government except Lord Ellenborough, and Lord Hardinge with certain qualifications, the Government of Bombay except Sir George Arthur, the mass of the civilians throughout India, the Indian Press generally, and a large part of it at home, with those Members of Parliament who expressed an adverse opinion on the Scinde war, are all either weak or wicked : " I only am always right." Nor does the historian rest in general terms. He charges the Indian press and Bombay au- thorities with conspiracy, with a treasonable " aiding and abet- ting " of the enemy by information published in newspapers, ind by planning campaigns for them in the guise of criticism ; and, if we rightly read a passage at page 95, the author insinuates that the Bombay officials wished to kill his brother by delaying and

!Sisters of General Sir Charles Napier's Administration of Scinde, and Campaign in the Cutchee Hills. By Lieutenant-General air William Napier, B.C.B. With Maps and Illustrations. Published by Chapman and hall.

otherwise managing correspondence, &c., to overwhelm him with work in the unhealthy season. Even a victory, if he did not gain it, or at worst an ill-timed compliment, is made matter of complaint. After the unprofitable battle of Ferozashur, Sir Henry Hardinge ordered Sir Charles Napier to direct his army on Bhawulpoor, and repair himself to the great camp on the Upper Sutlej. Before his arrival, the battle of Sobraon had been won, and the war was over. This was disagreeable; and if the Governor could have stopped him, (which seems doubtful,) or unless he wished his presence in council,

provoking was provokin • while in council the opinions of Sir Charles, though prophetically right, were overruled : but all put together, hardly justifies the tone of these remarks, years after the occur- rence.

" [It was] a journey not to be safely made without an escort for several days, which would have been slow for the occasion ; but the fighting camel corps was here again made available, and the speed was as a courier's. He reached the camp at Lahore on the 3d of March ; yet only to find that the battle of Sobraon had been gained, that a treaty was in progress, that his well-devised campaign was nullified, and his life endangered by the com- bined action of mental and bodily fatigue, for no object. Anticipated fame, health, and independent command, had been snatched away at once • and, worse than all to his spirit, he found that when the Punjaub was actually lying bound at the feet of England if he had been allowed to conduct the operations as he bad projected, the war was not to be continued by the main army,—peace with the certain contingent of another war was to be substituted for complete conquest. He was received by the Governor-General with ho- nour and very great kindness ; by the soldiers with enthusiasm; and in dur- bar he was treated by Goolab Sing, then going to be raised to the sovereignty of Cashmere, with such a marked respectfulness of demeanour, as to indicate that he had adopted the general opinion as to the nusseeb ' or fortune of the Scindian conqueror, which the Beloochees rudely expressed by saying it was a cubit longer than that of any other man.' But his mission was nought, and after a few days' stay he had to return to Kurrachee; where he arrived in April, suffering in health from this useless continuous journey of eighteen hundred miles under an Indian sun."

That Sir Charles Napier was not adequately rewarded by the Direc- tors—that he was neither appreciated nor supported by many lead- ingpersons both at home and in India—that he was opposed by official men from interest, from the official aversion to change or trouble, and above all from the manner in which the conqueror of Scinde expected everybody to work—may readily be conceded. The late ex- posures from Indian journals, state papers, and courts-martial, may warrant the suspicion that Anglo-Indian society is more corrupt and less scrupulous than that of England. On the other hand, "the Devil's brother " cannot be charged with too much of the suaviter in modo. When offended, he expressed himself plainly and some- what trenchantly; as the phrase is, "he made enemies," and went out of his way to make them. Putting all these things together, he should have laid his account with official opposition, and borne it. Could he expect to escape what Nelson and Wellington had to bear, and when they were waging a war involving the national ex- istence ?

But, though alloyed with too much of the spirit of controversy, and with details touching a distant region with which British sym- pathies are not easily excited, there is matter of value in the volume. The moral and economical effects produced by Sir Charles Napier's dealing with the Beloochees and Scindians, on a plan of high-handed justice and of philosophical truth, are very remarkable; but to produce permanency, Sir Charles must have been a per- manent and uncontrolled despot. His campaign in the Cutchee 'Rills, although devoid of largeness in the way of fighting, is a conspicuous example of original strategy, and we suspect will form a text-book in mountain warfare. The narrative abounds with anecdotes displaying semibarbarian character; and even its con- troversy involving remarks on public men or public measures is racy, and frequently just enough. It is to be regretted the examination had not been differently conducted ; for the state of India seems very rotten. The enthusiastic energy that conducted its early affairs is exhausted ; a fatal security seems creeping over the mind of politicians and the British people ; time and too great success are developing the innate viciousness of principle on which the Company exists. Bad as our Colonial Government is, it does not declare that it looks to the Colonies as a source of revenue. The East India Company makes India a field for patronage, and avowedly draws its dividends from the Indian people. The great secret of Sir Charles Napier's administrative success was that kind of influence which is called prestige, acquired in his ease by great qualities. Coupled with these qualities, was what the author calls subtlety—meaning skill, though it takes full advantage of the maxim that all is fair in war, and sometimes verges upon "management." This is a touch of the latter. "To soothe the pride of the chieftains and sirdars while their entire sub- mission was exacted, the Queen's picture, covered with a curtain from the gaze of private men and retainers, was shown to those who made salaam ; a ceremony so agreeable that every new batch eagerly demanded to see the Great f'adishaw's face.'

" Nevertheless, they did not understand how a woman could govern • nor clearly comprehend the nature of the Governor-General's power. They knew the last was of superior rank to the General, and thought he might, after the Eastern manner, at some time put him to death and seize his wealth ; but judging that a difficult affair, seeing how strong ho had been in battle, how entire was the devotion of his troops, they with profound reverence accepted him as their immediate lord. One old chief being told of the Queen's rank and power, exclaimed, But, sahib, she did not beat rue at Meeanee; you are my king now.' Another asked, 'How far off is she ? ' So and so. 'And you are next in rank ?"No ! The Governor-General is so in India.' `How far off is he?' He is at Calcutta.' Oh ! I have heard of Calcutta, and it is far off ;—you are at Hyderabad. Answer me one thing. Cannot you cut off my head ? " Yes ! if you do not obey.' That is enough ; I am your slave.'

"They looked on the head of the army as the head of everything; and that alone justified Lord Ellenborough in constituting the government a military one, and confiding it entirely to the conqueror.'• The author gives the following curious anecdote of his brother's " unahrinking nerve " : we think it equally displays the nerve of the sworder.

"An Indian sword-player declared at a great public festival, that he could cleave a small lime laid on ainan's palm without injury to the member ; and the General extended his right hand for the trial. The sword-player, awed by his rank, was reluctant, and cut the fruit horizontally. Being urged to fulfil his boast, he examined the palm, said it was not one to be experimented upon with safety, and refused to proceed. The General then extended his left hand, which was admitted to be suitable in form; yet the Indian still de- clined the trial, and when pressed, twice waved his thin keen-edged blade as if to strike, and twice withheld the blow, declaring he was uncertain of suc- cess. Finally he was forced to make trial ; and the lime fell open, cleanly divided—the edge of the sword had just marked its passage over the skin without drawing a drop of blood !"

The wild tribes are a singular race, combining high sense of chivalrous honour with the practice of robbery, murder, and other atrocious deeds,—which, however, are not crimes in their estima- tion. The following knightly instance is from the campaign in the Cutchee Hills.

" From some error, a sergeant and sixteen privates of the Thirteenth Vo- lunteers got on the wrong side of what appeared a small chasm, and went against a height crowned by the enemy, where the chasm suddenly deepened so as to be impassable. 'The company from which the sergeant had sepa- rated was on the other side, and his officer, seeing how strong the hillmen were on the rock, made signs to retire, which the sergeant mistook for ges- tures to attack, and with inexpressible intrepidity scaled the precipitous height. The robbers waited concealed behind a breastwork on a landing- place until eleven of the party came up, and then, being seventy in number, closed on them. All the eleven had medals, some had three ; and in that dire moment proved that their courage at Jellalabad had not been exagge- rated by fame. Six of them fell stark, and the others being wounded, were shoved back over the edge and rolled down the almost perpendicular side of the hill ; but this did not happen until seventeen of the robbers and their commander were laid dead above.

" There is a custom with the hillmen, that when a great champion dies in battle, his comrades, after stripping his body, tie a red or green thread round his right or left wrist according to the greatness of his exploit ; the red being most honourable. Here those brave warriors stripped the British dead, and cast the bodies over; but with this testimony of their own chivalric sense of honour and the greatness of the fallen soldiers' courage—each body had a red thread on both wrists. They had done the same before to the heroic Clark, whose personal prowess and intrepidity had been remarkable. Thus fell iSale's veterans ; and he, as if ashamed of having yielded them prece- dence on the road to death, soon took his glorious place beside them in the grave. Honoured be his and their names !"

This duel is an example of gallantry on both sides.

"When the second camp was pitched, a knowledge of the prowling warfare and ferocity of the robber warriors induced Sir C. Napier to order that no man should go beyond certain precincts. But always a certain thoughtless negli- gence where personal danger is involved, characterizes young British officers and soldiers. Captain John Napier the General's nephew, McMurdo his son- in-law, and Lieutenant Byng his aide-dc-camp, seeing a small band of the hillmen assembling on a rocky height in front, as if to save the distant herds, went towards them. As they approached, fearing an ambuscade, Byng was sent back for some cavalry, but the two others soon had occasion to acknow- ledge the prudence of their general ; for round a rocky knoll came galloping a gallant robber mounted on a small mare of great activity, himself of a fine presence, clothed in a wadded armour, and bearing a matchlock and two swords : he had a fine courage also, or he would not have hovered so close to the camp with such a pageantry of weapons immediately after a defeat. " McMurdo fell upon him sword in hand ; and some time they fought, wheeling in circles and closing without advantage on either side, save that the mare was wounded. Napier looked on, too chivalric to interfere in so fair a fight ; but at last McMurdo, who had already ridden the same horse sixty miles, said, 'John, I am tired; you may try him.' The other, of a slight make, but with as bright and clear a courage as ever animated a true English youth, advanced, and all three were soon at full speed—the Beloochee making a running fight. Suddenly the latter turned in his saddle and aimed with his matchlock, being then only a horse's length in front ; it missed fire, and as Napier rapidly discharged his pistol, McMurdo, a man of ungovern- able fierceness in combat, thinking the report was from the matchlock un- fairly used, dashed pistol in hand past his comrade ; who in vain called out not to kill, and shot the daring fellow as he was drawing his second sword. Then ensued a scene singularly characteristic. The young men alighted ; McMurdo reproaching himself for using a pistol when they were two to one, and both with great emotion tried to stop the blood flowing from their dying antagonist ; while he, indomitable, clutche I at his weapon to give a last blow : he was unable to do so, and soon after expired.

" From the camp now came succour, for the two officers were in danger from the vicinity of the dead man's prowling comrades ; but to view the body of the fallen Beloochee was all that remained to be done."